Kelsey’s Closet: {R}evolution Apparel
To celebrate the release of the new updated and revised edition of Where Am I Wearing? I’m celebrating apparel companies that are making a difference by conducting two weeks of giveaways. Each day I’ll highlight a company and then giveaway an item of theirs at 9PM (ish). To enter, leave a comment in that day’s blog post or on Facebook. Winner will be randomly selected. Wanna see more clothing companies changing the world? Visit Kelsey’s Closet.
Leave a comment in this post for a chance to win a Versalette from {R}evolution Apparel
An email from Shannon Whitehead of {R}evolution Apparel from 10/27/10:
Hi Kelsey,
This is Shannon from @RevApparel (via Twitter). I started reading “Where Am I Wearing?” yesterday and have to tell you, I’ve flown through it. I’ve found it so interesting and very pertinent to what I’m currently pursuing.
My business partner, Kristin and I are currently in Antigua, Guatemala, learning Spanish and putting the finishing touches on our business plan. We’re going down to Nicaragua in two weeks to start a fair trade apparel line with one of the cooperatives down there. All the cotton with be locally grown, the employees paid a fair and sustainable wage, as well as healthy working conditions.
Shannon continued on to ask me if I had any advice for her and her business partner Kristin Glenn about how to visit a typical garment factory. I told her that I doubted that they could get into the factory, but they could wait outside and meet workers. I even sent her a photo of Amilcar and asked if she would be interested in trying to find him. She was, but it didn’t work out in their schedule. (It turns out he was in California, so I’m glad they didn’t try!)
Anyhow, I get quite a few emails like this: An individual or a few individuals are starting X apparel company and they want to pick my brain about socially responsible sourcing.
I always try to follow up and offer my two cents. They send me a few follow up questions and then the conversation ends and no one ever hears from the budding company again. I supposed most of them don’t make it. It can be tough starting up a business, let alone one that involves sourcing in a developing nation. Most don’t have a lot of money and it’s hard to win the attention of a factory to work with. That’s probably one of a thousand reasons that the company doesn’t work.
(You might remember Shannon and Kristin from their guest post last year – 6 Clothing Companies Every Engaged Consumer Should Know About“
On November 17, 2011 Revolution Apparel introduced their signature piece to the world. The Versalette can be worn 15 different ways (scarf, shirt, skirt, dress, head wrap, etc), and would be made in the United States of 100% recycled material (they never did find a factory to work with in Central America). They didn’t have the funds to go into production so they turned to Kickstarter. They launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $20,000. If they reached their Kickstarter goal, they would be able to go into production. If they didn’t reach it, well, they’d probably find some other way.
By December 22nd, they raised $64,246 from 796 backers! Today Shannon and Kristin and their company Revolution Apparel are about to ship their first order of Versalettes and will be launching a collection of 10 other versatile pieces later this year.
They’ve documented their journey on their blog. It hasn’t been easy, but they never gave up. They started with the right questions and lofty goals :
We were determined to do it right – we wanted to create a business that preserved the environment, cut down on pesticide and chemical use, and said “no” to the exploitative labor that keeps our clothing cheap in the Western world.
We wanted to create a business that was beneficial for every single person involved.
At the time, we didn’t realize that attempting to do “good business” in the fashion industry is one of the tallest orders you can ask for.
I don’t think the Versalette is versatile enough for me, a dude named Kelsey who lives in Indiana, to wear. Still, I love their mission, the way they’ve done things, and have enjoyed following their journey every step of the way. I can’t wait to see what they do next.
Let your voice be heard!